5 hurt in bomb blast

BIRGUNJ: Five agricultural labourers were critically hurt when a bomb went off in a paddy field in Parsa's Lipani Birta VDC on Thursday morning. They were harvesting paddy for Phaham Miyan. The bomb went off at 11:15 am, behind Rajhansa Ghee Industry on the Birgunj-Pathlaiya Industrial Corridor. The injured have been identified as Dashai Mahato, 50, his wife Dukhani Devi, 45, Phulena Mahato, 40, Ram Chandra Mahato, 40, and Umarpali Khatoon, 40, residents of Lipani Birta-5. They were admitted to Narayani Sub-regional Hospital immediately after. CDO Durga Bhandari said the injured were airlifted to Kathmandu by an NA chopper at 3:30 pm.